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Right at the beginning of the chapter on Porsche in the Automotive Journalist’s Handbook, it states that when reviewing a new Porsche, you must always write the following: It is a better car, but a worse Porsche. It tells us to praise the increased performance, but also rue the loss of (please choose two): rawness, involvement, satisfaction, feedback, emotion — or in extreme cases, soul. And for the new 2013 Porsche Boxster (as well as the 911), Porsche has provided journalists with something big to rue, namely that it has switched to an electric power steering setup. The technically superior system doesn’t have the famous hyperactive wheel of Porsche’s past, making it a perfect target.

The 2013 Boxster is the first all-new model since the Boxster’s introduction in 1996. While previous models received aesthetic and mechanical upgrades, they were still based on the original structure shared with the 996 Carrera. As with the newest 991, the Boxster has grown in wheelbase and track width, but has shrunk just slightly in height. Porsche has built a car with better performance and more comfort while also making it lighter and more efficient.

Porsche invited us to Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, home of the Porsche Driving Experience, to meet some engineers and get some track time in the new roadster. If anything on the new Boxster is a letdown in the performance department, it would stand out like a Southern Californian in an Alabama airport.

The Boxster’s wheelbase has stretched 2.4 inches, while overall length has grown by a mere 0.1 inch. Likewise, the track has grown by 1.6 inches front and 0.7 inch in the rear, while overall car width remains the same. Pushing the wheels out to the corners adds stability, with the bonus of improving aesthetics. Although its longer wheelbase might sound counterintuitive as a recipe for nimbler handling, Porsche has worked its usual dynamic magic. The new front suspension system uses a lighter and stiffer MacPherson strut along with a new aluminum upper strut mount that helps eliminate unwanted geometry changes during cornering. Two lower control arms are used instead of one single piece, and both of those along with the spindle are wrought from aluminum. To finish it off, Porsche has improved the anti-dive geometry to further augment braking performance and dialed in more caster for added stability.

The new Boxster’s rear suspension is based off the previous car’s setup, with some minor changes in geometry and material selection. The real news out back are the optional active transmission mounts and the Porsche Torque Vectoring, or PTV, differential. Three active mounts, one at the front and two at the rear, are filled with magnetorheological fluid that can be varied between soft (to minimize driveline NVH) to near solid for maximum performance. The PTV system integrates with a mechanical limited slip differential using the rear brakes to assist turning the car. The differential itself has a relatively low maximum of 27 percent locking, but when brake force is applied to the inside wheel, torque is transferred to the outside, causing the car to yaw. The braking force is minimal, so it isn’t working like traction control.

Porsche brought steering specialist Florian Sprenger to Alabama. The new electric rack bears his name, and he is a bit perplexed why he has been cut from everyone’s Christmas card list. There is very little difference on paper between a hydraulic and electric assisted rack. A torque is a torque, whether it’s coming from oil or electrons. The difference is how Porsche is using it. In the past, the hydraulic systems were slow to react. Road irregularities transmitted movements into the wheel before an opposing force could be applied. Instead of making a faster hydraulic unit, Porsche chose an electric motor for efficiency reasons. Sprenger insists it still communicates what the front tires are doing just as well as the previous car.

The only cars Porsche had available at the track were Boxster S models equipped with seven-speed PDK transmissions. Although the previous PDK was good, the newest version is even better. Shifts are faster and power delivery is smoother, although in Sport Plus mode, the “sportiness” of the shift is maybe too exaggerated and tends to upset the car slightly. Downshifts are now accompanied by a brap-brap from the exhaust and even in fully automatic mode it will hold gears right at redline and take a lower gear at 4000 rpm under hard braking.

Although the Boxster S has only picked up an extra 5 hp for 2013, it feels quicker. The new car is only 77 pounds lighter, but everything feels more efficient and easier. You won’t confuse it with a 911 turbo, but acceleration is enough to make braking zones come up fast. It snaps through gears and makes you realize how outdated elbows and ankles are for shifting.

The first thing Porschephiles will notice about the steering is the lack of movement traveling in a straight line. As a longtime 911 fan, I’m accustomed to constantly working and making small corrections. This new front end tracks rail straight and stays there until you tell it otherwise. The lack of movement doesn’t translate to dead-on-center, however. There is still a heft to the wheel in a straight line and even at high speeds it doesn’t feel like it gets any lighter. Part of this is due to better aero work on the new Boxster. It generates less lift and greater cooling while keeping the previous car’s 0.30 coefficient of drag.

The other part is the upgraded geometry and lack of deflection. All that work improves braking, too. The wheel never steers itself and the car doesn’t dart around. Barber has some big braking areas and my confidence kept building with each lap. Although my tendency with anything wearing a Stuttgart badge is to finish braking before I start turning, I found myself carrying the brakes well into corners. Turn 5 at Barber is a downhill double apex left-hander coming off a high-speed section. In older Porsches I would have sacrificed a decent amount of entry speed to get back on the throttle and get the rear end settled. In the new Boxster, I carry the brakes all the way into the first apex before rolling back on the power. The car is so stable under braking, I make the preceding straight section 50 feet longer, which means 50 feet of running away from a chasing car, every lap.

To coach us around the track, Porsche brought out some of its best drivers with the unenviable task of sitting shotgun next to jet-lagged, overworked, and sometimes undertrained automotive journalists. Although race fans talk about the days when racing was really dangerous, I’m not sure any of the F1 drivers from the 50s and 60s ever had to ride along with an auto scribe after his sixth trip through the all you-can-eat bacon bonanza breakfast in the press room.

Racing legend David Donahue, my right-seat victim for the day, said something that really stuck out before even turning our first lap. “Pro drivers spend the first few years learning to be as smooth as possible with their hands and the rest of their career learning to be smooth with their right foot.” While I consider myself silky smooth on wheel inputs, I have recently begun to notice exactly what he is talking about with the money foot. Near the limits, sudden stabs of the throttle will jolt rear tires loose, resulting in a beautifully smoky but inefficient drift, or more likely, a beautifully executed pirouette followed with a flourishing dismount onto the infield lawn. Not only is how the throttle operates important, but how the car responds to inputs is critical. This is where the new active transmission mounts come into play. With drivetrain movement all but eliminated, throttle inputs become more immediate and easier to modulate. You never feel engine inertia flopping all that mass over before power can be transferred to the road. As foot is planted, power rolls on in equal amounts.

That power not only accelerates the car, but with PTV it helps point the front end. While cars with aggressive limited slip differentials tend to straighten out under hard acceleration, the Boxster will continue on whatever arc you dial in. It never feels like it will snap oversteer suddenly, and is overall very forgiving. I am happy to report Sprenger isn’t pulling anyone’s leg with the steering, either. It doesn’t slap you in the face with feedback like the old car, but you always know exactly what the front end is up to. On track, some of the extra noise goes away and a more clear conversation with the car happens. You aren’t looking at your hands bouncing around and flailing like the old-timey racing movies – instead, you helm the car exactly where you want it. It helps make you a smoother, faster driver.

It comes down to the same philosophical decision as the PDK transmission. A clutch pedal and row-your-own shifter might make you feel more like part of the car, but in the end, all you want is a different gear ratio. The steering may not kick back as much, but really you just want to know what the tires are doing and the car to go where you point it. I appreciate both sides of the argument. There is no denying this Boxster is faster, handles better, and even offers better fuel economy than the previous car. Is it a better car? Absolutely. Is it a better Porsche? Without question. The new Boxster will tell you everything you need to know to drive just as hard as you could in the previous car. It may not fulfill your fantasy of driving a 917 around La Sarthe, but you wouldn’t want to drive that 917 to work, either.

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2013 Porsche Boxster News and Reviews

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